From left, Dr. Terry Peterman, TJC associate vice provost for academic and workforce program, Loretta Swan, dean of the TJC School of Professional and Technical Programs, Dr. Belinda Prihoda, TJC director of institutional effectiveness, Dr. Juan E. Mejia, TJC president, Dr. Deana Sheppard, TJC provost and vice president for academic and student affairs, Maggie Ruelle, TJC director of learning commons, Jeanie Oxler, TJC director of school district partnerships, and Brent Wallace, dean of the TJC School of Continuing Studies, accept a state award for improving student pathways to career options.

Tyler Junior College has been recognized with a 2021 Texas Pathways Award from the Texas Success Center, demonstrating the success of student outcomes.

TJC earned the “Excellence in Helping Students Choose and Enter a Path” award at the recent Texas Pathways Institute held in Dallas. The college was one of six schools that received an honor for their implementation and scaling of guided student pathways.

The award recognized the college’s excellence and progress over the last two years regarding practices and student outcomes associated with pathway entry.

Dr. Terry Peterman, TJC associate vice provost for academic and workforce programs and Pathways Team lead, said the campus feels honored to obtain the award and it shows the success of students leading into their careers.

“This award affirms the work we’re doing, all the programs that we design, when we look at them we look at label market data,” Peterman said. “That’s exactly what we want, we want students to get the degrees, certificates, credentials and skills that they’ll need for them to be successful in their workforce.

“A big part of the Pathway initiative is making sure the degrees and certificates we have at TJC lead to rewarding careers and students are getting jobs that pays well and allows them to be productive members of society. This award emphasizes that we’re doing a good job on putting students in academic pathways that lead to high paying jobs.”

Peterman said the award is a team effort and wants to credit the students also.

“At the end of the day it is really a team effort at Tyler Junior College because several academic and student support service units have to work together to make Pathways work. It affirms all the hard work that TJC puts in for helping students complete college and be successful,” he said.

Peterman mentioned the campus didn’t apply for the award, but the award was given due to a forecast of past, current and future assessment plans of Pathways work.

“This award is a culmination of several years of teamwork to improve student success for all Tyler Junior College students,” Peterman said.

TJC not only works with current students but also high schools to prepare them for college level course-work when they enroll on the campus for a program of study.